And after a day spent with your nearest & dearest you might need a little lift. Loved this cocktail recipe from The Modern Pantry in this week’s Saturday Guardian.

It reminded me of the time I recommended The Modern Pantry as a breakfast venue for my Mum & her friends. Unfortunately Clerkenwell is not a part of London any of them know & by the time they’d circled, passed & missed the place breakfast was long over.

Taking pity on them the fabulous staff sat them in a quiet corner with a glass of champagne until the lunch service started.

They had a great time & would love to go back – unfortunately none of them have any recollection of where it was or what they ate!

My mother taught me to cook from a very early age, not because she’s a whizz in the kitchen – but because she’s amazing at delegating.

It’s stood me in good stead & I believe that the ability to put food together a plate of food is one of the most important life lessons you can pass on. It teaches how to budget, look after your health, brings people together and is a tipping point in marital bliss vs bust up.

So here’s a quick and easy recipe to teach or treat on Mother’s Day – (you might want to supervise the gin bit.)

Cinnamon Brioche French Toast with Strawberry Salad

Serves 1 Yummy Mummy

Hull & halve a punnet of strawberries. Place in a bowl with a handful of blueberries and dust over 1tbsp of icing sugar. Douse with 1 tbsp of damson gin, stir & leave to steep while you make the toast.

Whisk 2 eggs with 1tsp of cinnamon & 1tbsp of caster sugar. Take 3 slices of brioche & soak in the egg mixture, making sure each piece gets well covered. Leave for 2 minutes while you heat a heavy based frying pan. Add 1 tbsp of coconut oil. Once sizzling add the eggy soaked bread & carefully fry until golden brown. Control your heat carefully, the high butter content of the brioche means will burn in an instant.

Once cooked stack the french toast in a heap. Spoon the berries over the top, dust with icing sugar & serve with a shot of maple syrup.

Or Derek, Loretta or Phil? I’m on the hunt for a name for this cake. It’s a recipe I invented when I needed a dairy free bake for a guest. The problem is it’s jam packed full of fruit but it’s not a fruit cake. There are a ton of flavours but not one that shouts out to exclude the others. So I’ve found I end up reeling off all the ingredients.

“Would you like a slice of pineapple, carrot, cranberry, raisin, pineapple, walnut, ginger and honey cake?” Hardly trips off the tongue and it’s a lot to remember. So if you can think of a suitable moniker for this slice of sticky, sweet, spice please let me know.

Lightly whisk 6 large eggs with a pinch of salt & grind of pepper. Place a heaped tablespoon of your favorite filling into each of the muffin holes. Then pour in the egg mix to just below the rim of the muffin tin. Give each muffin a light stir to distribute the filling so it doesn’t all sit at the bottom. If I’m using cheese I’ll usually keep some back to sprinkle on the tops. They’ll rise quite a bit in the oven.

Place in an oven preheated to 180*C gas mark 4 for 20 minutes. They’re done when they spring back when pressed. Allow to cool slightly before turning out.

Best served straight away but any left over make a great lunch time alternative to a sandwich. Whatever you do don’t put them in the fridge, being fridge cold does nothing to improve the taste or texture.

Bill Granger is the absolute king of the Aussie Brekkie, someone who’s books I have a kleptomaniac compulsion for. The original Bills is a tiny corner cafe in Darlinghurst Sydney. The perfect neighbourhood hang out with a few seats a large communal table to kick back at read the weekend papers and tuck into a full Aussie.

When I first opened all those years a go I thought I’d put one of Bill’s breakfasts on my menu with a breakfast BLT. Two thick slices of griddled sourdough sandwiching rocket, grilled bacon, avocado and a spicy tomato relish. Delicious I thought. Unfortunately no one else did, the avocado special sat on the menu, unordered & badly spelt until I admitted defeat & replaced it with a less exotic stacked English muffin.

However after Nigella cooked up a storm by starting her new series ‘Simply Nigella’ with a recipe for avocado on toast I thought I’d give the alligator pear another try. Now it’s one of out most popular midweek orders, served smashed on toasted rye bread with a squeeze of lemon a sprinkle of chilli flakes and topped with two poached eggs.

When the weekend allows a little more time – but not enough to fly to Sydney – why not start your day with an Aussie Brekkie.

Cut a thick slice of sourdough bread and 3 thick slices of halloumi. Heat a thick based pan with a little olive oil. Griddle the bread and the halloumi until golden then put to one side. Add a handful of sliced chestnut mushrooms and baby plum tomatoes, saute until the mushrooms are softened & the tomatoes have started to blister. Finish with chopped parsley & cracked black pepper. Slice an avocado & toss in a little lemon juice and a pinch of chilli flakes. Cook two eggs – any style. Then plate up.

Sourdough topped with avocado. Next to it the mushroom & tomato with halloumi perched on top. Then your eggs on the side. And as it’s the weekend why not pour yourself a bucks fizz.

Great to see a couple of Lancaster businesses back open this week after Storm Desmond wreaked havoc way back in December.

Quite Simply French on St Georges Quay is back cooking on gas after closing to renovate. Really excited to see their new look. I’m sure the menu will be the same great stable of French bistro classics but the new decor will be even more OO-LAH-LAH!

Standfast & Barracks also took a battering, absolutely heart breaking to think of all those rolls of linen & silk ending up filthy & skipped. For anyone who’s never been the factory shop is a treasure trove of upholstery fabric. Famous names like Designer’s Guild, Liberty, Harlequin, Cath Kidson all at heavily discounted prices.

Breakfast in bed is meant to be the ultimate indulgent treat. A luxury reserved for anniversaries & wedding mornings. However it can also be an utter nightmare. Balancing a small tray loaded with coffee and orange over just white Egyptian cotton, EEK!

So here are a few golden rules if you’re treating a loved one this weekend.

My Mum used to get the dubious pleasure of breakfast in bed every Mother’s Day. A concoction of spilt juice, lukewarm tea and great uneven slabs of lightly charred toast. Feigning delight but no doubt thinking about just what horrors awaited downstairs? Was the kitchen on fire? Rule 1 – clear up.

What to serve? Hopefully having reached the breakfast in bed point you’ll know the recipient fairly well. But just in case you don’t you might want to check they’re not vegetarian before presenting a plated pile of piggy bits. For those awkward mornings, waking up with a vague recollection of the night before & with a stranger lying next to you, might I suggest a fruit plate & a smoked salmon & cream cheese bagel. Minimal effort but impressive enough to warrant a phone number should you want it. Rule 2 – know your audience.

Smoked salmon is the only fish that should make an appearance in the bedroom whether on a bagel or with scrambled eggs. Other fish are just too stinky to consider. Baked beans should be avoided for the same reason. “Thank you for my breakfast, but it’s just racked up a £100 dry cleaning bill.” Rule 3 – Nothing that slips, smells or slides

The best bedroom food can be eaten with fingers or one handed and this needn’t limit you to bacon buns or bowls of cereal. A stack of pancakes with strawberries, maple syrup & vanilla yoghurt can easily be tackled with a fork. Rule 4 – Be inventive, think beyond British – BLT, bagel, croque monsieur make great cutlery free choices

Toast never makes trip from kitchen to bedside well. Pre butter & it’ll arrive soggy & soft. Leave them to do it themselves & crumbs everywhere, makes for an uncomfortable lie in. Which option ever you choose it’s likely to be cold and disappointing, never good thing in the boudoir. – Rule 5 Always buy great bread, a slice of soft freshly baked loaf, or chewy tart sour dough trumps cold toast.

So rather than face the trials & tribulations of breakfast pleasure giving why not leave it to the experts?

p.s. And for those of you lucky breakfast recipients please remember eating naked only looks good in the movies.